


I promise

by ShahedaM



Category: La Reina del Sur (TV), Queen of the South (TV)
Genre: F/M, Jeresa, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-19 06:10:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15504030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShahedaM/pseuds/ShahedaM
Summary: This story is James' POV





	1. The ending of a thing is better than the beginning

I'm exhausted I haven't slept in almost 2 days. I jumped out of the car and Pote helps Teresa, just being near her was driving me up the wall. All I wanted to do was comfort her but I just can't muster the strength to do it. She had that same look on her face that my mom had after "she" died.

Flashback --- my early years. As far as I could remember it was always the four of us. My dad was an ex-military guy and my mom was a nurse, they met while my dad was in basic training and although they didn't get together right away they somehow found their way back to each other. According to my mom it was serendipity they were both at the same club where they initially met 3 years earlier. She was wearing a black mini dress that night and my dad said that when he saw my mom he knew she was the one. My mom played hard to get and of course my dad did the chasing. Not long after that night they got engaged, did a quickie Vegas wedding and settled in Corpus Christi TX. My mom was knocked up with me when she finished nursing school and was pregnant with my little sister not even 6 months after being hired on her first nursing job. Every night we would sit out on the porch and have family night, we played this game with each other called "high/low". Each person had to say what the highlight of their day was and low point of their day was. I was such a cornball in those days, my low was something cheesy like not being with you guys. The summer of 1995 my parents decided to take me and my sister to Padre Island since we both did good in school, I was in the 7th grade and my sister...Her name was Jocelyn. She was in 5th grade. She was so pretty, long black hair, almond shaped eyes and she was always laughing. We were as close as brother and sister could be. She would sneak into my room at night and we would climb out the window and sit out on the roof and count the stars. We never fought. She called me her hero because one time at the swimming pool, she caught a cramp in her leg and almost drowned. I saw her and fished her out and from that day forward she would tell anyone who would listen what an amazing brother I was. This trip to Padre Island was supposed to be a couple of beach days, just crabbing and laying out. But, for whatever reason my parents decided to make it more memorable by renting a boat. I didn't really like boats, but I loved just spending time with my family. My dad was stiff and serious, but around my mom he was such a clown. My mom was always singing, she actually had an amazing voice. So the first night that we got to Padre Island we just kind of got settled and my dad and I got some clams, and my mom made dinner. Jocelyn said that she had a stomach ache so she was lying down in the adjoining room at the hotel while my parents and I sat on the balcony. That next morning Jocelyn didn't feel any better. So my mom gave her something for her stomach, but since she was a nurse, she said you'll live and kept it moving. That afternoon with the cooler packed we set off on our cruise. Jocelyn was below in the bathroom and my dad and I were on deck enjoying the view. All of a sudden my mom starts screaming. "Help me, she's not breathing". We were literally in the middle of the ocean and I have never seen my dad look so helpless in my entire life. My mom tried everything but nothing worked. By the time we got to the shore my beautiful little sister was gone. My parents handled it amazingly. They gave me all of their affection and attention, but they didn't really do the same for each other. About 2 years to the day that we lost Jocelyn one night after my dad decided to go out with his buddies on his way back home he was killed in a drunk driving accident where a group of college kids hit his car head on because he went up the exit ramp the wrong way. My mom would say that he never recovered from losing Jocelyn, I just thought that my life couldn't get any worse. My mom waited until my dad was gone for about a year and she started dating. She met a lot of guys. She didn't necessarily give me a choice in how I should feel, I was mad as hell, she should have waited until I left the house, but no she had to get her freak on. One night she came in with her new friend and tried to introduce me to the guy. I sized him up and he seemed like a good guy but because loyalty is everything I kept my distance and they slowly went from just dating to him moving in. Turns out dude was a bum. It wasn't long before he was planning my departure and sooner rather than later. My grades were pretty good in school but I really wanted to blow shit up, I had an anger management problem. So I took the ASVAB, that's the military entrance exam and scored off the charts. I got as far away from Texas as I could. I was in my second tour Afghanistan when my commander called me in the office to say that my mom was in serious condition at a hospital in Corpus Christi. I flew home within the hour. When I got to the hospital my mom was in critical condition, I asked where her boyfriend was and they said that he left town. I sat at the hospital for hours waiting for more information, but something said go to the house. I went to the house and someone had trashed it. My mom's boyfriend was gone and he apparently took some of my dad's stuff so I was pissed. I went back to the hospital and just sat with my mom. According to the doctors she was suffering from head trauma and they didn't think that she was going to wake up. My mom is legit all I have, my grandparents are gone on both sides and my parents didn't come from big families and neither of them had siblings so I was really messed up. I didn't know what to do. After 5 days of machines breathing for my mom and watching her suffer I decided to end it. I walked out of that hospital and went back to the war. 

Present day ----I had no family until I started working for Camilla, I was a ghost. I had no distractions and no one could hurt me with anyone. Now as I look at Teresa I feel like she is the person who I can't live without, the person who if something happened to her I don't know what I would do, I know the first thing that I would do. I would burn down their entire world if they try to touch her. The other night she shocked me when she told Devon that she was willing to give her life for me. Beside my army platoon no one has ever said those words aloud, they are unspoken up until that moment, she told Devon that she would die for me. I have been fighting how I have felt about Teresa since I first met her. She was so tough when she got to Dallas. She almost died trying to prove a point. She earned my respect the first day that I met her. But right now I'm hurting because I know what that loss that she feels right now feels like. Until we won at the horse race hosted by Don Manuel I knew that she had changed my world, we were together every day. We didn't have to talk, its like she knows what I am feeling and thinking at the same time. Those 6 months that I was working with Devon were pure hell. I threw myself into work so that I didn't have to think about Teresa. Every time I'd think about her I would go deeper into my alias, Trevor. It was there that I could escape my feelings for Teresa but it was also here that I had to relive being an orphan, I had no one and I used to like it like that but as I spent more and more time with Teresa being alone was no longer a good thing. I started envisioning the two of us not as business partners but as a real family. 

It's funny all of my previous relationships don't even come close to what I feel for Teresa. Sometimes I can tell that she is fighting back her feelings since we always had Guero hanging over our heads but now that he's gone I feel like she needs space but at the same time I don't want her to go all dark on me. I made a promise to myself that if I ever found Teresa after I left Devon that I would always keep it real with her and that I would protect her from anything and anyone. So here goes nothing.

I knock on her door and walk in. 

I'm not prepared for what I see. Teresa is in bed with her eyes closed but she is breathing too heavy to be sleep, she isn't crying its worse her body is racking with sobs. I touch her on her shoulder and she leans away. I should retreat and give her some space but in this moment I decide to stay, I pull up a chair and just sit and wait. It's dark outside and from the shadows dancing around the room its got to be after midnight, the watcher fell asleep because Teresa is in bed but she has changed into some PJs and her hair is curly and wet like she just washed it. I can smell her soap and shampoo lingering in the room so she must have just got out the shower. There's also a blanket on me and I definitely didn't put it there. 

Before I can say anything, our eyes meet and without speaking she beckons me to her. It's like a magnetic pull I couldn't stop myself from moving to her side if I tried. She pats the side of the bed and I sit down. She begins the conversation but her voice is so hoarse from all the crying that I take her hand and tell her that its ok she doesn't need to talk. 

"How dare you James" Teresa said. "You are sitting in my bedroom and I am trying to apologize for everything and all you can do is tell me to stop talking!" 

"Ok, tell me what's on your mind novio", Teresa is taken aback by me calling her sweetheart in her native tongue. But the flood gates open. "James, I want to tell you that I am so sorry for the past two days from you having to rescue me from Camilla to having to bury Guero, I have to tell you that I was so happy the other morning when I woke up and all I wanted to do was get you a nice steak for breakfast and my plan was to just enjoy our new transition. But instead I had to watch them torture and humiliate Guero." I winced. Teresa reached out starts rubbing my hand. I don't want to interrupt her so I let her continue. "The entire time that I was in that cage I kept saying to myself I should have looked for him, I felt guilty, but as I lay here in this bed feeling sorry for myself you sat up in that horrible chair and watched over me." I rub my neck for extra points. We both smile. "But, James I need to tell you something, I need you to know that I care for you and I want to be with you but..." She inhaled like she was about to blow up a balloon, then she lets it out and she tells me but only on one condition. I am literally sitting there with my mouth squeezed shut because I want her to get it all out before I say anything. 

"I need you to kill Pecas" Teresa said. 

"Taking out a major player in La Commission would be catastrophic right now" I said. 

"I don't see any other way for us to be safe than to get rid of the maggot who sold me out to Camilla, he's the one who called Devon and when that plan didn't work he called Boaz " Teresa said.

"He has to go" We both agree.

There's a curl that has escaped from behind her ear that I try to put in its place and she leans into me. As she lays her head in my lap we get comfortable and turn on the TV, we're watching CNN and before I know it we are both sound asleep. 

It's morning and without any words spoken we are all over each other, her legs are tangled with my legs and my hands are playing in her hair which is all over the place, she looks like a wild woman. Her curls are so soft on my arms. She kisses me on my ear, she knows what she is doing, I roll to my side of the bed and she rolls right with me. I grab her and hold her at arms length and tell her that I understand if she needs time only for her to punch me in my stomach. Hard.

"Hey, what the hell, Teresa" I said.

"Well you deserved that", Teresa said. 

I am completely flabbergasted, what the hell, she gets out of the bed and stomps to the bathroom. I jump out of the bed and run in the bathroom, she is standing in front of the sink, I get behind her and put my arms around her while burying my face in her curls. I mumble being sorry. She starts brushing her teeth while I let go and do the same. After we brush our teeth we both jump when we hear the thunderstorm outside. The loud crackle of lightning has us both just staring at each other like...This is perfect sleeping weather. We stand in the mirror for a few minutes, she looks so sad, I look around the massive bathroom and realize that she just needs me to be what she needs right now. I swoop her up in my arms and carry her back to the bed. 

"What are you doing put me down, I'm still mad at you" Teresa said. 

I do what I'm told, but I don't drop her like she is expecting, I get in the bed with her still in my arms and I start kissing her neck, I lay her down gently and then I begin kissing her chest, then her stomach. I stop and look at Teresa and she is literally in utter bliss, so I take off my shirt but I leave my pants on, we are kissing and grinding and all of a sudden BOOM! another clap of thunder. That seemed to fuel our passion because Teresa get on her knees and takes her shirt off and starts reaching for my drawstring. I grab her ass and start pulling her against me. She is loving it I am so hard I probably could come right now but I hold back. I start sucking on her neck, while laying on my side, she is grabbing my hair and I use this moment to slide her panties off as I take one of her nipples into my mouth. She is gasping for air. I roll over on her, careful to not put my full weight on her and as I slide in she lets out a moan that can only indicate that she wants more, so we make love, not hard and fast, but slow and to the rhythm of the rain hitting the solar panel in the bathroom. She decides she wants to be in control and she flips me on my back and before I know it I'm moaning. As the pace speeds up we both know whats about to happen so we both let go and we come at the same time. We never let go, we just lay there I'm still inside of her and she still has her arms wrapped around my neck. I carry her to the tub and set her down on the edge. I turn on the water and fill up the tub. I wait until its half way filled and I let her climb in, I'm only in my pants so I start washing her back, the tub is almost full and out of no where she pulls me in the tub with her, water is everywhere, she starts kissing me and its over we are at it again this time there's no holding back we are both furious in the pace and I don't even care because as long as she is happy I am too. Besides a promise is a promise, I would never hurt this woman it hits me like a ton of bricks I am in love with Teresa Mendoza.


	2. Reality bites

I keep telling myself that it's only been a few days, but Teresa has been pushing me away. I know that she needs her space, but I'm torn between my true role as her soldier and my role as her lover. Lover sounds so cliche. I love this woman. I am in love with this woman. I would do anything for her and I want to be the man that she deserves. Every since the whole Devon thing I have really been wearing my heart on my sleeve and I'm just not used to that. It takes me back to a time when life was simple. I got up did my run, went to work, kicked back with my buddies with a couple of brews, went to sleep and got up the next morning to do it all over again. Before I got down with Camilla, life was crazy. I was spiraling out of control. But I ended up finding a place in the world where my special set of skills wouldn't land me in prison or in the dirt. I was good at my job. I was so good they sent me when they wanted the job done. 

When I finally caught up with Teresa in Malta, I can't front, her anger kinda turned me on. I mean she was pissed. Sometimes I challenge her because I want that side of her to come out, that's when she truly shines. When she is scared she is a force. She relies on her instincts and those instincts somehow always seem spot on. When she told me that she was taking flying lessons, I felt a little tinge of jealousy, no doubt she developed that love because of Guero. But, I pushed it down. She doesn't deserve another jealous bloke in her life. She lit up when she showed me the plane so I guess I can support anything that makes that smile come out. When Pote called me and told me to meet him at the airport, I checked Teresa's room and she was gone, I am not going to lie my heart dropped to my toes. She had been making alot of moves without any counsel, but if she just up and left I would deal with it, and I would definitely have to admit to myself how crushed I would have been if she up and left without me. I mean before Guero died, she was happy wasn't she.

Standing in the airport looking up at Teresa in that plane had my heart about to bust in my chest, she was being mad reckless. I know what she is doing. I have been there. When you lose someone you love sometimes your grief blurs reality and you see the one you lost and you get lost in the fantasy. I feel a small ache in the pit of my stomach cause I know as she soars up near the clouds, its Guero that she is thinking of. But, I push those thoughts aside knowing that she will soon be safely on the ground. When she disembarks from the plane I can see the pain in her eyes, I can see the weariness and I want to absorb all of that pain so that she doesn't have to feel so bad, but I have to play it cool, Pote is watching me and although I'm not ashamed about how I feel about Teresa, I'm definitely not the guy who kisses and tells. But even a blind man can see that I am in love with this beautiful broken woman who I would give my life for. 

She jumps in her car and tells me and Pote to meet her at the winery. My first thought is Pecas and his men probably have the place surrounded but I follow her driving like a bat out of hell to our destination. When we get out she stoically walks straight to her office. There's people milling about and I'm thinking what the hell is she up to. I made the mistake of questioning her using innocent lives as body shields and her rebuttal rocks me to the core. Did she just tell me that I can leave. Doesn't she know that I could never leave her even if I wanted to. Teresa has become my rib, I hold my breath when she's not around and it's only when she is near me that I can even breathe right. This woman is going to be the death of me. I know that I have to pull it together so I reiterate my feelings. 

"I'm not leaving, I'm only saying this because we said that we would do things differently." I said, not sure if I sounded like a greedy kid who was just denied another helping. I want her to stand still and I want her to breathe. She is running on fumes and I know that she will need me to be there when she crashes and burns. Casualty or not I am down for whatever. We have to keep our business going, so I told Pote to lock her up, not because I want to control her, but because I want to protect her and this Teresa is moving very careless. Pote and I load the truck and I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket, its Kelly Anne. "There's a dead body on the property," she said. I hang up and rush over. As I enter the reception hall the wedding is in full swing and I search through the crowd for Teresa gun already cocked, ready to set it off, the silencer is off because I want it to be loud I want them to scatter. I see Pecas sicario and Teresa standing off to the side. Pote gets to them first. As I stand there with my gun to his head, Teresa calls Camilla and I black out after that. I'm waiting for the order. This is the only way I tell myself. As I put the bullet in his brains out of my periphery I see that Teresa's eyes are just as dark and cold as I feel. I shudder as I think about the night that I made her watch Birdman and his men kill the anonymous guy, was it that long ago, had she changed that much under my watchful eye. 

Pote and I clean up the mess and we walk out of the winery like just another day at the office. As I pull the truck around, I overhear Teresa apologizing to Kelly Anne, I know that she is still mad at me for locking her up but it had to be done. She's giving me the silent treatment until she makes a call to the Indian from La Commission. She says that we're going to the reservation. We get the directions and I head that way. As we drive in silence I glance over several times and she won't or can't make eye contact. Pote is quietly sitting in the back seat watching my 6 on high alert because we are at war. The hum of my tires hitting the pavement is all that keeps my mind focused on the road because my two companions aren't talking and the last thing I want to hear is something whack on the radio. So we keep driving in silence. As we approach the reservation, I keep the truck idling watching for a set up as Pote and Teresa get out the truck to talk to Taza. They share a few words and his men open the gate. As we drive through the gate I am strategically plotting our exit should it come to that.


	3. Off The Reservation

I beat the sun up. 

As I walk to Pote's room I pass Teresa's door and hesitate. Should I knock. Since we have been on the reservation she has pretty much friend zoned me in front of everyone and also in private. I try to pretend it doesn't hurt and hide behind my Ray Bans but right now the dawn of the new day forces me to hit it head on. I decide to forego seeing Teresa and knock on Pote's door. He opens up the door and I walk in. He heads straight to the bathroom and closes the door. There's a soft knock on the door, I say "Who?". There's silence. I take out my gun and I ask for the second time, "Who?". I hear a soft almost sweet, "it's Teresa". I fling the door open. She looks tired and she's got coffee in her hands. She looks surprised to see me but she quickly recovers. She walks past me avoiding eye contact and places the coffee on the table. Inside I am a raging inferno, but on the outside I am cold as ice. Damn, she's bringing Pote coffee early, I guess I'm still in the dog house. Ok. Back to business. We stand awkwardly staring at the bathroom door like Pote is going to materialize at any moment and break the silence. I am the first to start.

"How did you sleep Teresa." I said. 

She winces, "Fine". 

"So what's the plan for today" I said.

Before she can respond Pote walks out. As Pote puts on his holster she starts walking toward the door. I hang my head and start the long walk behind her not knowing where she's going but eager to follow because I'm not at all sure about Taza and his intentions. I feel Pote's hand on my shoulder and when we make eye contact he silently gives me the "I feel for you son look". I continue to soldier through the pain of her completely boxing me out. She even sits in the back seat. Pote is riding shot gun. Apparently Taza has arranged a meeting in a desolate area of the reservation and we are the guests of honor. As I eye the meeting locale I don't see anything fishy but I am ready. I am ready for whatever. 

Taza begins by telling his men that they are to protect Teresa just like they protect him. Ok I'm ok with this gesture of respect, but Pote and I definitely have that handled. We talk about the plan to get rid of Pecas and discuss how we are going to accomplish killing the biggest narco in Arizona. The more he talks the more I am coming to admire Taza. He seems on the up and up. Its nearly lunch time when we leave and he has decided to dispatch about 60 men from his tribe to man the perimeter of my compound, it has been decided that our goal is to keep our two bosses safe at all costs. The internet reception on the reservation has been problematic for our business which is technically the only reason that we are going back to our compound, we gotta get that money. It makes sense that we beef up security and I have an arsenal in the basement that even Pote hasn't seen. I have enough firepower to lend ammunition for a foreign invasion. 

As we arrive at the house I try to grab Teresa for a private audience. She rejects me. She says that she has a lot of work to catch up on. I'm crushed. I hide it all behind my glasses though. I retreat to my room. The night is beginning to fall so I decide to go for a swim. As I complete my third or fourth lap I lost count, I feel someone watching me. I finish my swim and get out of the pool. I'll do some weights later but right now I want to take a shower and grab some leftovers since I skipped dinner, I couldn't bear the thought of Teresa avoiding me and looking so sad. I decided that I needed to give her some space and I was only going to approach her from now on regarding nothing but business. 

As I get out the shower I feel someone in my room. I turn around gun cocked and ready. Standing there in my towel I am surprised to see Kelly Anne. What the hell is she doing in here. I tell her to give me a second. I grab a pair of pants and a shirt and go back in the bathroom emerging a few minutes later questioning her presence. 

"I know its none of my business but I need you to talk to Teresa, yes she is hurting about Guero but why aren't you fighting for her, make her talk to you, its like you have given up." says Kelly Anne. I shake my head. "First of all your right its none of your business. What you and I need to talk about is the little coke habit you have developed. Kelly Anne we can not have any issues with any outside forces. I need you to be sober, Teresa is counting on you to be the face of the winery. We can't have that face be a sniff head." She hangs her head. I keep going. "Look I've been around girls that do drugs for a long time and I can tell you that it never stops, first its coke, then dope or crack and it only goes down hill from there, so I need you to tell me right now do you have it under control." Kelly Anne lifts up her head, I'm surprised at the defiance in her eyes, I was expecting tears and lies. She says that she has it under control and walks to the door and slams it shut. I sit on my couch and turn on the TV. I am lost in my own thoughts when I hear a knock on the door. I fling the door open and its Pote. He is turning in and wanted to let me know that he left me some food in the microwave, but if I didn't want to eat it tonight to make sure that I put it in the refrigerator. I tell him thanks and I close the door. Damn everybody and their momma has visited my room except the one that I really want...

I finish the program that I'm watching and I remember the food. I creep down to the kitchen and as I open up the microwave the entire kitchen dances alive. Out the corner of my eye I see her. She is sitting in the breakfast nook with a bottle of Patron Platinum Gran that I got as a gift. She sees me but she continues pouring. I turn on the microwave and heat up my food not saying anything. When its luke warm, I pull it out and stand at the center island and start eating. It is Teresa who breaks the silence. "What are you doing?" I look at her over my plate of food. She has never looked more beautiful, she's got her hair down, her face is flushed from the tequilla and she is sitting Indian style barefoot. "I'm eating". I say a little too cold but I don't know how to act right now. She has been giving me the cold shoulder so I need to get back to being just her soldier. I can live with that. As long as it means that I can keep her alive and stop her from becoming a ghost I can live with that. 

She stands up, brushes past me and grabs another glass. "Nah Teresa, I'm not drinking tonight". She looks at me so strangely. "This is not an invitation this is an order." I wash the plate and put it in the drain all the while never breaking eye contact. She is watching me too. As I walk over she moves to the window and says "not there, here". She wants me to sit next to her and not across from her. Ok I decide, I can play this game. In my mind I keep saying the words "ice cold" over and over. She pours the first shot and I down it, the second shot I down it. After the third shot I ask could I get her a beer. She says of course. She doesn't say much but I can tell she has something that she wants to say.


	4. About last night

The sunlight pouring through my windows hurts.

I open my eyes and my head is on fire. I reach over and click the switch on my night stand to close the electric blinds. As the room darkens I roll over and jump out of my bed grabbing my gun at the same time. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I put my gun down and put the safety back on. It's Teresa. She is here. I stand there watching her in the dark, her hair fanned out on my pillow and she looks so peaceful. I get back in the bed careful not to wake her but I'm too late. She opens her eyes, adjusting them to the darkness and says "Good morning, James". I am staring at her with my mouth open like an idiot. I search for the words but nothing comes out. I start racking my brain trying to remember what happened last night and I can't remember. Tequilla does that to you. I snap out of my fog and give her a gruff good morning. She rolls onto her back and just stares up at the ceiling. I stay on my side watching her, happy and a little uneasy that she is here in my bed. Teresa begins pouring out her heart. 

"Last night after we finished off that bottle and half a dozen beers, you carried me upstairs to my bed. I told you that I didn't want to be alone so you brought me here. Nothing happened. I am just grateful that you didn't treat me the way that I have been treating you. I never understood until last night why it has been so hard for me to let you help me through this. It's because I don't want to hurt you, it would hurt me to watch you mourn over someone that you lost and I just don't want to do that to you, you mean too much to me." I reach out and start tracing circles on her arms while she continues her explanation, from the timbre of her voice and look in her eyes this is relaxing to her. "After we got back from burying Guero I thought that throwing myself into work, finishing my flying lessons and staying as far away from you as I could would help me but it has only made it harder. You once told me that there are no good people or bad people in this business it's kill or be killed. I felt like Guero got killed because of me and I don't feel ok with that." I stopped drawing circles on her arm and prop myself on my arms so that I can look her in the eyes. The words that come out of my mouth scare me. 

"I understand Teresa and I am not going anywhere. No matter how much you push me away I will always be here waiting and ready to reconnect, no matter how long, no matter how late, no matter what circumstance, I am yours, in a thousand lifetimes, in every one of them I promise it will always be you and me." The tears are spilling down her cheeks I grab a Kleenex from the drawer and quietly let her cry. She cries for what seems like an eternity and I find myself reaching out for her and she rolls into my arms and we stay that way for what seems like a very long time. When we break the embrace my entire T-shirt is soaked. I pull it off and I take off my wet shirt and try to find a new one but she stops me. She asks me about my tattoos. My head is banging right now but I decided to let down the last wall. I had a mini fridge built into my armoire and I hop up and grab two Vitamin waters and a bottle of Advil Liquid Gels. I take two out and hand Teresa her Vitamin water and down my Advil with a swig of mine. I begin the story of my tattoos.

"I have a spider web on my shoulder to always remind me that I need to stay focused because if I don't I will find myself trapped in a web that I can't get myself out of; I got that one when I was stationed in Afghanistan, so many things could go wrong on a mission, while a lot of my buddies were out tricking and getting into fights, I was the lone wolf. Always by myself but always apart of the action if that makes sense. One night a buddy and I were out on the base and they tell you that if you smoke to make sure that you always smoke with your stogie fire facing the camp but my buddy was all drunk and not really paying attention and a sniper hit him. He was standing right next to me. His name was Stephen but we called him "Spider" so I guess you can say that the tattoo is a memorial to him too because he was my right hand out there. He just got caught slipping. The other tat that I got is a coffin with a cross and a ribbon around it and I got that shortly after I started with the cartel, to me it symbolizes the death of the old me (the upright citizen who fought for his country) to my rebirth as a sicario, I got it to remind myself that life passes fast and we aren't in this world forever." 

Teresa sat up in the bed. I close my eyes because I am prepared for her to leave after she hears what I really feel and instead she rolls over on her arm so we are nose to nose and she starts tracing my tattoo humming. I throw my head back and start cracking up. I want to make love to her right now but I hold back. She has no idea what she does to me. Instead I grab her and I roll on my back bringing her to rest on my chest. She looks so small in my extended Texas King sized bed (I had a California King but when I found out the Texas one was 80 inches x 98 inches, I put the California king in my guest room that Pote has). She is giggling the whole time and that's the first time that I have heard her laugh in so long it takes us both by surprise. I give her a weak half smile and she goes back to tracing on the scar in my spider web tat. She was there when they dug the bullet out that I caught when Birdman's team got the jump on us and stole the 2.5 million. She looks at the clock on my night stand that's now reading 1148AM, she says that she will be right back and I open my arms to let her leave. 

She kept her promise and she came right back but this time she had her laptop in tow. She also has snacks and coffee on a tray that she puts down on the bench at the end of the bed to go lock the door. She climbs back into the bed crawling over to my side of the bed and props herself up on two pillows to start filling orders. I turn on the TV and watch the news as she silently works our bodies touching the entire time neither of us moving all the while enjoying the heat that our touch is providing.


	5. Paradise

I step out on the balcony and inhale.

I woke up pretty late, Teresa and Kelly Anne already went to the winery.  

_Teresa._

These last few days have been amazing.  Waking up every morning making love, taking showers together, exchanging private glances over dinner, making love before we go to sleep.  She's never tired.  I finally met my match in the sex game.  It just keeps getting better and better, each time better than the last.  As I reflect on everything my phone starts blowing up.  I look down, it's Pote.  

"We have a problem, I need you to get down here as soon as possible and bring the chopper."  

What the fuck I spit.  I grab my jacket and head to the basement.  There's a secret panel that I press and a digital keypad slides into view, I enter my passcode and the door opens.  This is a gangsters paradise.  I have every weapon that you could think of, I got SKs, Mac 10s, Mac 11s, AK47s, 9 millis, Sig Sauer machine guns, MP5s, AKSU-74s but my favorite gun when I put down my murder game is my Sig Sauer P320, I grab some grenades, lots of shells and put on my vest.  I grab the duffel and throw it over my shoulder while I grab my long gun case in my left hand.  I throw everything in the truck and haul ass to Pote.  

Half of the men that Taza loaned us follow me and when I get there it is a freaking war zone.  I barely have time to get out of the truck.  They are under heavy fire.  I get in position my military experience giving me the advantage and I start putting it down.  Pote ends up next to me somehow and we are letting them have it.  Mayo and Pecas men are dropping like flies.  But they haven't started running.  I throw a couple of grenades and take out a few, but we are definitely outnumbered.  While reloading Pote tells me before I can ask.  

"Teresita and Kelly Anne are safe" Pote says all the while smiling at the small arsenal I brought to the table.  He loves my machine guns.  I pull out the rocket launcher and take out a car and a van.  There are bullets flying everywhere.  I barely ducked for cover in time I gotta take this guy out.  As I stand up to take the shot, I feel a burning in my side.  I've been shot before and I knew it before I looked down.  The pain is tolerable so I just keep firing.  I have Mayo in my sight.  I take a deep breath and I exhale slowly as I let off the shot that rocks his ass to sleep.  Pecas isn't on the scene which doesn't surprise me because his greedy ass is probably somewhere eating.  

We kill them all and we are still ready to send some more of the cowards to hell.  Pote is good.  I'm bleeding pretty bad, I need a doctor.  As I start to walk I just feel like I'm floating just for a second.  I black out.  

_I'm at a hotel and I am being asked for my identification.  I pull out my wallet and my license is gone.  I look at the clerk and tell her that my name is James Valdez and I have a reservation.  She starts punching in my information and she tells me that she doesn't have a reservation for me.  I pull out my phone and I try to make a call but it just says "all circuits are busy",_

Pote stands by watching the doctor work on James. He's unconscious.

Mr. Valdez, Mr. Valdez.  The doctor that Taza hired is trying to revive James.  When he took off his shirt and his vest, man he lost tons of blood.  He has an entry and exit wound to his upper torso.  I help him by holding pressure on the wound while the doctor tries to start an IV to give him fluids.  They have a defibrillator the doctor puts the pads on James' chest.  When he looks at the monitor he tells me to stand back.  I back up and he shocks him.  He starts doing CPR because his heart has stopped.  

_Since I don't know where my license is I try to backtrack and see if I can find it.  I go to the hotel bar and the bartender who says he knows me tells me that I left my bag there.  I take the bag and look inside and this is definitely not my bag.  I try to give it back to him but he says that its mine.  I ask the bartender if I could use the phone and he hands me the phone.  I feel like I'm in a dream and I can't wake up.  I dial Camilla and a woman picks up the phone but its not Camilla its Kim.  She talking to me about the trailer.  I tell her that I will call her back and I hang up and walk out of the bar._

"We got a heart rhythm.  I need to give him some more fluids and I need to replace the blood he's lost."  the doctor said. 

James is so pale and he is breathing really crazy.  The doctor said that the trauma to his chest caused a pneumothorax so he has to get that air and blood out so he is going to put a needle into his side so that he can breathe better but he tells us that he has to get to a hospital or he will die. James still hadn't regained consciousness.

 _The clerk from earlier approaches me and says Mr. Jimenez we were looking for you.  I say no my name is...but she cuts me off and says this is your room key, we apologize for the inconvenience._    _I'm so tired, I take the key and go to the hotel room.  I put the bag on the table and sit on the bed.  I turn on the TV and its crazy but it doesn't seem right.  I pick up the phone to try to hit Camilla again and I get the same thing "all circuits are busy."  I'm so sleepy that I lay back to take a quick nap.  That's when I heard her._

Teresa is standing over James talking to him, coaxing him, teasing him and holding his hand and James still hasn't opened his eyes.  He's got 3 broken ribs, a bullet wound to his upper torso and he lost about 3 liters of blood, the doctor was able to replace the fluids he lost but he told us that its a watch and wait type of thing.  For Teresa that's not good enough.  But she can't leave.  She has to be here when he wakes up.  She stays by his side talking to him and telling him to wake up.  

_I can hear someone calling my name, but its so far away.  I am trying to wake up but I can't its like there's something stopping me from opening my eyes.  I make myself get up.  I go to the bathroom and wash my face.  When I come out I see the bag, so I look inside.  There's a folder and there's some sort of announcement inside.  According to the document there's an event that I am supposed to attend tonight.  The next thing I know I'm in the hotel lobby and everyone is calling me Mr. Jimenez.  The event is in the penthouse I take the elevator and when I get off there's a long hallway and the door is open but its so bright.  A door adjacent to the event opens and I see her._

"Is his heart supposed to beating this fast, he is shaking all over, what is going on!!! Help me!!!! James!!! James!!!! Wake up James wake up."  Teresa is screaming.  The doctor is trying to figure out what's going on.  Teresa is hoarse but she keeps screaming "James wake up, wake up baby, wake up, don't leave me."  

_I see the long black hair.  I look around and I realize this not a dream, I'm dying.  I walk toward the light.  But, I hear her voice its closer now, I see the stairs and I open the door and race down taking two at a time.  I fling the door open as I finally reach the lobby._

"James, James, oh my God your back" Teresa cried. 

Im staring at her and I want to hold her because she's bawling right now, but my arms feel like lead.  So I close my eyes and open them again this time I point to a water pitcher and ask her if I can have some water.  She jumps up like her seat is on fire and brings me a glass of water.  I take a sip and try to sit up.  "Easy tiger" she says with a grin.  She helps me sit up.  My side is on fire.  I'm lucky the bullet went right in and came out.  

As I sit up in bed it all starts coming back I got shot and passed out.  I ask Teresa if Pote was ok, she nearly blinds me with her smile.  She lets me know that Pote is ok.  At that moment Pote comes walking into the room.  We slap hands and I realize in this moment that Teresa and Pote saved my life.  This is my family.  We are ride or die and there ain't an army that could strike against us and win.  

Now we just have to find Pecas.

 


	6. Blown

I'm not an attention seeker but I'm loving this.

As I sit back on the couch watching Teresa work I am amazed at how she hasn't missed a beat with everything going on. Thanks to my hook ups on the black market we have intel that Pecas is hiding out in Sedona. With Mayo dead this new information has my trigger finger itching but I have orders.

"If I catch you trying to do too much before your ribs heal and the doctor takes out your stitches  _te voy a patear el culo_ " Teresa murmurs before kissing me on the mouth.  I nod in agreement, but cabin fever is real.  Since I got shot Teresa has been by my side 24/7.  She only leaves me to take a shower and go to the bathroom.  Taza comes to the compound as scheduled and we have a plan in place to catch Pecas out in Sedona.  We already sent a few soldiers up there to set the plan in motion officially.  I want to be there when the bullet hits his melon.  That guy is mad disrespectful.

Teresa is taping a plastic bag over my wound dressing so that I can get in the shower and I lean down putting my face in her curls inhaling her shampoo, my baby always smells so good.  I lean back and grab a couple of Advil, no narcotics for me, that shit will get you hooked.  She helps me get to the shower, as I strip down, she's all business.  That is until she turns on the faucet and rubs her ass against me, it takes me two seconds to grab her and pull her into the shower with me, clothes and all.  Breathing too deep hurts but I don't even care about the pain, I am trying to grab, stroke, pull, push, anything to get close.  

As I dry off and throw on a T-shirt, I grab a pair of jeans and Teresa's like "where are you going".  I turn my head so she doesn't see my grin.  I walk over to her and tell her that I'm just tired of wearing sweats.  I just wanted to put on some regular clothes.  She gives me a wayward glance.  I give a puppy dog face and we both crack up laughing.  She knows how hard it is for me to stay put.  But, I can say that since everything that's happened my nightmares are less and less.  I sleep through the night these days.  

We take our cuddling to the sitting room.

Pote walks into the sitting room and plops down on the couch.  He's smiling and looking pretty cheery, I can't resist, "Where's Kelly Anne?"  Pote's face goes straight blank.  He gets up and walks out of the room.  I am beaming from my insides that she didn’t move away when Pote walked in.  She is getting more and more open about her feelings and she’s less guarded.

Teresa punches me hard in my shoulder, "why do you tease Pote, that's not nice, you wouldn't like it if he did that to you." 

She gets up to go get the remote and I jump up to grab her and she crashes into my ribs, I wince from the pain.  I kiss her on her neck sucking hard.  She jumps back. 

"Are you alright?" she says, “I don’t want to hurt your feelings but hickeys are not cute, James”. 

“I’m marking my territory”, she swings on me again but this time I move out of the way. 

She crosses her arms across her chest and nods her head toward the couch.  I tell her that I'm going for a smoke and I go out on the balcony.  I’m watching her on the couch and I realize that I could have died.  According to Pote, Kelly Anne and the doctor, Teresa never left my side.  I was out for 4 days.  While I was unconscious I saw my little sister.  But it was Teresa’s voice that brought me back to reality. 

She saved my life yo!

 

I’m getting kind of hungry and the smells coming from the kitchen aren’t helping my hunger pangs.  Pote is cooking Gambas Al Ajillo, he knows I love seafood so he put mad shrimp in the dish.  He made rice and beans too!  Man, this guy can cook his ass off.  I grab a tortilla and a beer and sit down at the table.  Teresa is at the sink washing her hands and she starts fixing me a plate. 

 

Not being funny but I ask where Kelly Anne is again and this time Pote snaps, “Mira hijo de puta”, I pause, and snap right back in Spanish, “Solo estoy pideiendo hijo de puta”.  Needless to say dinner was uneventful.  Kelly Anne finally made an appearance.  When she sits down I see the strain on her face.  She looks like our little conversation hasn’t sunk in yet.  I was about to say something, but Teresa’s phone starts buzzing, I can’t help it I look to see who it is. 

 

I know such a sucker move, but I can’t help it.  I know where I stand with Teresa but I also know that she is drop dead gorgeous and everybody doesn’t respect unspoken commitments.  Every day with her I am thinking about changing that.  But the life that we live where does a family fit in. 

 

My cover is blown.  I lose all control around her.  Even if you were deaf, dumb and blind you couldn’t miss the energy that the two of us set off when we’re in a room together.  She tells the unknown caller, “ok, bring him over, I will text you the address”.  I raise my eyebrows.  She said bring him over.  She tells us that Tony is coming to stay.  I don’t know how I should feel about this.  We are in the middle of a war and I don’t know if now is the time for us to bring Tony into this life, but the other part of me knows that she worries about his safety and atleast here with us he will be safe.  He’s her godson, so I nod my head and say of course. 

 

That night as we prepare for bed, Teresa is putting the extra pillows on the bench at the foot of the bed when she says. 

 

“Do you like children, I mean do you, never mind” I sit on the side of the bed.

 

She’s the only person who can chip away the ice that surrounds my heart. 

 

 “Every since I can remember I always wanted a family”, she begins.  “But after everything that happened in my life I didn’t think that I deserved the kind of happiness a man and kids would offer.  Lately its like I want to have that.”  I sit there watching her.  She starts to walk away but I grab her hand.  She’s averting my gaze so I put my hand under her chin and I force her to look at me.  I let her see all of my pain, all of my anguish and battle scars.  We don’t even have to vocalize our feelings, she understands and she knows that I feel exactly how she feels. 

 

The mood is pretty heavy so I change the subject. 

 

“I wanted this to be special but I really need to ask you a question.”  She is staring at me and her breaths are coming out anxiously.  I say “what’s your favorite color”.  She backs up looking annoyed, “what’s my favorite color, why?  We were just talking about kids and commitments and your asking me what my favorite color is, really?” 

 

I know I punked out.  But, I don’t even have a ring.  You gotta have something to close the deal and I am not going to propose to the woman that I love with just my dick in my hands. 

 

She snatches back the comforter and plops down in the bed.  She rolls as far to her side as she can without falling out of the bed.  I hit the switch to the lamp on my nightstand and I get in the bed on my side and stare at the ceiling. 

 

When we first started we promised that we would never go to bed mad at each other.  I would like to think that these past couple of months that’s happened maybe twice.  But tonight I don’t want to argue, I don’t want to fight, I really just wanted to say that I am happy Tony will be with us, but staring into those chocolate eyes had me thinking about tuxedos and horse drawn carriages. 

 

One thing I know is that I would spoil the shit out of Teresa.  Heck she got just as much dough if not more than me.  I got the 9 million that Camilla gave me after we parted ways on ice.  My compound was purchased on money that I made over the years with Camilla and I was paid very well for my services.  I also got connected with some stocks back in the day that blew up when the internet took off, so I’m not hurting for cash at all.  My net worth is in the $80 million dollar range according to my portfolio. 

 

Teresa was on her side with her back to me, so I said, “I wanted to know what your favorite color was because I saw this car, I wanted to get for you.  Also, I wanted to tell you that I am happy to open OUR home to Tony and that I am glad that he is coming to stay with us, we can keep him safe, I can keep all of us safe.” 

 

Teresa rolled over and just stared at me for a minute.  She reached out and I slid over to her side of the bed and I kissed her on the nose, then her cheek, her chin and then her mouth.  As soon as our lips touched she darted her tongue in my mouth and I grabbed it and sucked it.  She was cooing and moaning, that just intensified the moment.  By this point Teresa has hopped on top of me and I just let go.   Our tongues dance together as the kiss deepens.  She is straddling me careful not to lean on my chest, when all of a sudden she says I need to tell you something. 

 

She swings her leg over and lays on her side stroking my neck, I am hard as a rock and she is wetter than the ocean because the front of my pajama pants is soaking wet.  She says that she hasn’t had her period. 

 

My head starts spinning.  “Wait, what are you saying?”

 

“I’m saying that I haven’t had my period”

 

My mind is blown.

 


	7. Settling into things

The sun is shining bright when we rise.

We both know what we have to do.

Teresa gets a pregnancy test and we anxiously wait for the results. While we are waiting for the results I am just sitting there staring at her, I’m wondering if we have a baby would it take after her or would it look like both of us. The alarm on my phone chimes. We look at the test together. It’s negative. I don’t know who was more disappointed her or me.

Our discussion is put on hold by a knock on my door. It’s Pote, Tony just pulled up.

Teresa races down the stairs.

Me, I’m taking it easy remember so I just take my time.

I walk over to him and Teresa introduces us. He puts out his hand and we shake hands like men. I like the kid already. He’s got manners.

One evening Teresa decided to give Pote a break from cooking and she cooked tamales, empanadas, paella and baked a chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. Apparently these are Tony’s favorites. I am impressed, she can cook. I make a mental note of how many carats that will get her, beautiful check, attitude check, sex game check, can cook double check. Wait did I just say how many carats I will get her. After dinner I figured that Teresa would want to get Tony settled so I went down to the pool. I grabbed my phone and made a few calls, I knew some jewelers that made house calls, but how was I going to sneak someone in to show me rings when Teresa was home. I would need a distraction.

Tony had been settling in pretty good. He liked to swim and he was always outside on the grounds playing soccer with a few of the guards, just kicking the ball around. We got him home schooled for right now and he has a tutor that comes every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We vetted her good, she was actually one of Taza’s nieces. That night after I finished my swim, which was nothing vigorous, I took a shower. It was still pretty early so I decided to pop my head in on Tony and see how he was settling in. I gave him the room with a 50 inch TV and I ordered an Xbox One X for him. I spent about 500 bucks on all the latest games for his Xbox. I also got him a Force 1 Discovery Drone. He was just opening the box when I knocked. His face lit up, he couldn’t stop saying thank you. I sat down at the desk where I had a nice iMac set up for him and I asked him if he could help me, I told him that I was in love with his godmother and that I wanted to marry her but I needed his help.

“Not because of the gifts or you letting me come and stay with you guys, but because I can tell that she loves you too, I’ll help you in anyway that I can James” I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. I exhaled and told him that this was top secret and that he couldn’t say anything to anyone especially Pote and Kelly Anne.

We both laughed.

Her birthday is in March, so I didn’t want it to be near that, the wedding would be hopefully before it got really hot, October is perfect Vegas weather I figured that it would be a nice little 4 hour drive and we could stay somewhere nice and do everything out there. Quick and practical. My guy with the ring was coming by he asked me to describe Teresa so he could bring some rings that would fit her personality. So I tell him well, she’s got heart, she’s got passion and she is not like any woman I have ever met in my entire life. I tell him that I want something at least 5 carats. He tells me that he thinks he has something that I would like. I’m not flashy, but my wife’s ring needs to say TAKEN.

From the rings that I see Teresa wearing I figure out that she’s a size 6, I also know that she likes silver or white gold, so her wedding ring and band will be platinum. Tony and I set our plan in motion, Tony is going to go for a swim and he is going to ask Teresa to come with him.

My guy buzzes the gate and I text Tony and tell him to go to the pool. Teresa is downstairs and I hear her telling Tony that she is coming as soon as she grabs a towel. I have one of the men take the jeweler down to the basement. We shake hands and he opens his briefcase. I look very carefully at each of the rings. I decide on the 8 carat flawless cushion cut forever one Moissanite surrounded by a hidden halo of sparkling round diamonds with additional diamonds gracing the ring’s shank, you can see through this diamond, its visible even with the lights out. He measures my finger and will drop off my ring later. What guy knows their ring size. Not me, I don’t even wear jewelry. Her wedding band is 3 carats of 57 pave diamonds (May 7th is the day that we met). He puts them in a box and I drop $375000 in cash in the black Goyard bag that he provides for all 3 of the rings.

That night I am pacing in my room when Teresa walks in. “What’s wrong James, you have been quiet all day and you barely ate dinner, tell me what’s up?”

Now is not the time. I just need to relax, chill, maybe I’m moving too fast. So I tell her that we heard from the guys in Sedona and they are putting the murder game down as we speak. I’m not lying I am just not telling her the truth about what has me so uneasy.

She seems ok with my explanation and I hear the shower turn on. I put the rings in my night stand because I don’t have time to hide them anywhere else. She is soaking in the tub and the shower’s running, that’s my cue that I need to get in my shower and she is going to take a nice bath. I finish before she’s done so I sit on the edge of the garden styled tub in my towel making small talk.

She sees right through it, “I’m going to ask you one more time James what is on your mind”. I grab her towel. She stands up and I wrap the towel around her back pulling her into my arms. As we kiss all my inhibitions and fears start melting away. I grab her ass and I pick her up and walk over to the wall and start fucking the shit out of her, she is matching each thrust and she is enjoying every minute of it. This is the first time that I have ever been rough with her. Every time we have had sex prior to this it was really soft as fuck, like slow and gentle not at all like this time. We both come at the same time, which is normal for us. We go to the sink and wash up quickly all the while she is stealing secret glances with a sparkle in her eyes I'm tempted to go for round two but we go to the bedroom.  All that tough guy talk.  

I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

_I was standing at the altar waiting for Teresa to walk toward me. I saw her walk down the aisle she was so beautiful, we said our vows and the minister said I now pronounce you husband and wife. I kissed her and out of the corner of my eye I see the gun. I try to shield her but the blood splatters on my face, somebody hit my baby with a head shot and there was no coming back from that._

I woke up in a cold sweat, panting and scanning the room. I looked over at Teresa she was sleeping so peacefully. I don’t believe in omens, voodoo, juju or none of that shit. I just believed in instincts. Right now my instincts were telling me to just chill and relax. I still had time, it was only September. Next month would be good. Next month would be better.

Now I just had to figure out where I could stash these rings.


	8. Horse & Carriage

It had to be done.

With Pecas out of the picture, we could get back to focusing on business. Our mail order cocaine idea is picking up, everyone is feeling our quality product. We still have Camilla in the south as a threat, but she has her hands full with Boaz Jimenez. So for now she isn't a priority. Rocco de la Pena was in Malta somewhere cutting up girls and he wasn't a threat right now. Our focus was on meeting El Santo's deadline. King George was making the shipments happen and with Taza controlling the borders we just moved into Pecas spot as the biggest supplier in Arizona. The cryptocurrency payments that El Santo is receiving are keeping him happy too. Life could not be better. We are a little family unit, Pote, Teresa, Tony and Kelly Anne are the reason that I’m thankful. Kelly Anne has admitted her addiction and she goes to NA meetings to help her stay sober. We limit our alcohol around her because its all connected. Pote is in a cooking frenzy tonight. 

When I come downstairs Teresa is nowhere to be found. So I take a walk to the pool and there she is …who knew a one piece could be so damn sexy. Her and Tony are playing Marco Polo. I strip down and hop in to join the game. I swim over to her and kiss her on the mouth, she kisses me right back as usual thrusting her tongue in my waiting and eager mouth. 

Tony takes this as a cue to leave but we wave him back, he says that he’s hungry and he heads off to the kitchen. I swim over to the edge of the infinity pool and Teresa follows. I start to get out and the next thing I know she’s yanking at my shorts. I grab her by the hands looking around to make sure that we aren’t being observed and I slip back into the water. I sink to the bottom watching her from the bottom of the pool. Damn she’s beautiful. As I come back up for air, I pin her to the edge and I slide her bathing suit to the side and we start going at it. I’m no minute man so I take my time and make it last. An hour later we are running to my bedroom to hop in the shower. 

As we descend the stairs to the kitchen I remember that her gift came today. She has no idea. I purchased a money green Koenigsegg Agera RS. It’s beautiful. We eat dinner and I ask her to take a walk with me. When we head to the garage she gets all siked. Jumping up and down, she thinks we’re going somewhere. I open the garage and when she sees the car she looks puzzled, I hand her the fob. 

“This is for you baby”

She is shocked. She opens the doors, there’s a few boxes of shoes, I got her some Manolo Blahnik, Aquazzura, Jimmy Choo and some Louboutins. I also got her a pink gold Audemars Piguet which I put on the gear shift. She is so happy, she jumps into my arms and kisses me long and hard on the mouth. When we both finally come up for air, she wants to take it for a test drive. I hop in the passenger seat. Always strapped I had the dealership create an extra compartment for a small pistol. 

“Wooooooo, this car is incredible, thank you mi amor” 

We drive for a little while and I watch her playing with the gadgets. She turns on the radio and Mi Corazon by Bronx River Parkway blares through the speakers. We ride in silence a little longer and she starts looking melancholy. I guess she’s thinking about everything that’s happened over the past few months. It’s been rough for her. Shit, it’s been rough for me too. I’ve had to watch her be strong when she doesn’t have the strength and push through despite it all.

“Pull over right over there” Teresa eases the car into the scenic area. This spot is beautiful to watch the sunset or the sunrise. 

It wasn’t romantic and it wasn’t even planned but watching her over these past couple of weeks it just feels like now is the time. We exit the vehicle. I reach for her hand. 

“Remember when I first met you and I told you that you were trouble. Well what I didn’t tell you was that I knew that I was in trouble. In trouble because I knew that behind all the bravado, bad attitude and witty rebuttals that you were not someone that I wanted to lose. Before I met you I had lost so much. I put you in this little box and I couldn’t fuck I wouldn’t allow myself to deal with the feelings. After Chicago I realized that I didn’t need to hide anymore, I was willing to meet you half way, not just because Guero was gone but because at that point I felt like my relationship with Kim had been over long enough for me to move on. You never left me behind and if it takes the rest of my life proving it to you I want you to know that I will never leave you again.” She interrupts my speech. 

She runs to the back of the car and starts vomiting her guts out. I rush over and hold her hair while she retches all the food that she ate that day. I walk her back to the front of the car and she sits on the hood for a second. 

Whoa this proposal thing is not going like I planned. I ask her if she's alright and she starts shaking her head.

“James I need to tell you something”

“Ok but let me finish…” 

“I took 4 pregnancy tests and they all came back positive, I’m pregnant and I don’t know how we can bring a baby into this life but, I made an appointment”

“James, did you hear what I just said.” 

“You made an appointment to do what?” My eyes dark, cold and blank.

My head is spinning, I was just about to ask to her if she’ll marry me and she tells me that she’s pregnant and that’s she’s made an appointment, appointment to do what. 

“I made an appointment to see how far along I am, why what did you think that I made the appointment for?” I’m still in shock. I finally find the words to say but as we get back in the car, she lights into me.

“James I know that you don’t owe me anything, you have been good to all of us but I don’t need your help nor do I want to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do” 

“Teresa, I…”

“All I’m saying is that me and the baby will be fine with or without you”

She revs the engine and we drive back to the house in silence. As we pull into the garage, before she turns off the engine she looks me straight in the eye and tells me “I don’t need you James. I don’t need your ass for nothing.” She dropped the fob in the center console and hops out. 

I sit in the car for a while and when I finally get out I make the long track up the stairs to my room, its empty. I slam the door and collapse on the bed, my mind spinning from all that transpired. I had planned on proposing and instead I felt like I just got dumped. I was tired and I know I should have gone to find Teresa but I don’t. 

I was knocked out. When I woke up it was 3AM. I stare at the ceiling wondering if she was still mad. I roll over and grab the remote and turn on the TV. I don’t even know what’s on TV right now, I decide to go to the kitchen for a drink and as I turn the corner I smash right into Teresa. We are both soaking wet and the collision causes her to drop the glass, I pick her up so she doesn’t cut herself and I set her on the counter until I can sweep up the glass. She loves walking around barefoot.

She’s not saying anything and neither am I, so stubborn. 

She starts to hop off the counter but I stop her. 

“Wait, until the floor is mopped we won’t know if we got all the glass”

I pick her up and carry her to the stairs. She puts her arms around my neck and I gently put her down on the bottom step. We stare at each other for a minute and I start to open my mouth, but she puts her head down, walks up the steps to her room and closes the door softly. I grab a glass of water and I go to her door. I knock softly and put the glass on the floor. I walk back to my room my heart tugging at me the entire time. 

When Teresa opened the door, she saw the water and closed the door silently. It was 5AM and she couldn’t get to sleep, so she opened her laptop and started filling orders. Her eyes were burning and she knew that she needed some rest but she just couldn’t get herself to fall asleep. It was around noon and as she got up to go to the bathroom, she saw the blood on her pajama shorts. She started cramping and she nearly passed out. She got to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. She cried and cried over and over again, she was losing her baby and it wasn’t a damn thing that she could do about it. 

Teresa called the doctor and spoke to his nurse, she wanted her to come in, she had one of the men drive her over. When she got to the office at 3PM she had already saturated her maxi pad. They had to do a pelvic exam, they were gentle and they told her that everything was going to be ok. The doctor said that she would need to have a D&C to remove all of the remnants of the failed pregnancy. 

It’s late when she gets back to the house. I went to her room but I didn’t go in. I went to the back yard to take out my stress shooting a couple rounds. I saw her out the corner of my eye. She looked so pale and fragile. I put down the gun and walk over. She just starts crying. I stand there for second, I pull her into my arms and she gibbers about not being able to do this and that she lost the baby. 

I stand there holding her never letting go and whispering my assurance that everything was going to be ok. In my head I knew that I needed to push it down and be strong for her, but in my heart I knew that this was going to be way harder to deal with than even my strength could handle right now.


	9. Soldiering On

The next few weeks flew by, Teresa has her procedure and the doctor told her that until her follow up appointment no sex.  She didn’t push me away, instead she seemed more drawn to me since we lost the baby.  Lying in bed with her every night no words spoken but the comfort of knowing the person next to you feels your pain has healed us both.  Tonight Teresa is in a mood.

 

“I was thinking about taking a trip to Vegas, it's a few hours away and we could get up early in the morning and be there by noon, what do you think?”

 

Tony knew that I was going to propose but I never told him about Vegas so I wondered where this was coming from but I agreed.  A nice little baecation would do us both good.  Teresa was furiously working on her laptop multitasking. 

 

“Ok, we will leave Friday morning check in at 3PM, we will be staying at the Bellagio, my check up is Thursday, so just in time.”  She winked before walking out of the room. 

 

“It’s now or never.” I whisper to myself when she was out of ear shot.

 

She was going to look for Tony.  She always checks in on him around this time of day.  He is doing great in school and he loves all the technology that he has at his fingertips.  We can barely get him away from the X Box.  Every so often I see the distant look in his eyes and I understand his pain.  I lost both of my parents so I know what it feels like, I was still a teenager when I lost both of my parents and Tony is much younger than I was when I went through that shit. 

 

I went to kitchen to get a snack and decide to hang out with Pote while he’s preparing dinner.  I was sitting on a bar stool at the center island drinking a beer when Teresa walks in.  She picks up my beer and takes a long swig and puts it down.  Pote just shakes his head.  Not missing a beat, I got up and went to the fridge and got two more beers opening one and handed it to Teresa who went to the breakfast nook to get comfortable. 

 

I don’t know why I was nervous.  It’s not like Pote was Teresa’s father.  But, I planned on proposing and marrying Teresa once we got to Vegas.  I wanted Pote, Tony and Kelly Anne to be there so I already had the plan set in motion, they would come out Saturday morning, I had already booked the penthouse suite at the Venetian for them.  It slept 4 so they would definitely be comfortable not to mention the hefty price tag the weekend was going to cost me, but I don’t think Teresa would ever forgive me if they weren’t there.  I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face. 

 

We finished dinner and everyone went their separate ways, Pote is stepping out to visit his lady friend and Kelly Anne is going to NA.  Besides Tony, Teresa and I have the house to ourselves.  I’m in the sitting room stretched out on the couch while Teresa is in her favorite chair filling orders.  She is non-stop.  Our business is 24/7.  I wait until she looks up and I motion for her to come over. 

 

“Ok, babe two more minutes.” 

 

I wait patiently and sure enough 2 minutes later she is on the couch with me.  She looks tired and her hair is pulled back in a bun so she looks serious but still sexy as hell.  I start pulling her hair down and she is twisting and moving for me to gain better access but it’s not helping.  We haven’t had sex in weeks but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t made love to each other in other ways.  I turn the TV off with the remote and we both get up at the same time to take our cuddling session to our private quarters. 

 

Once inside the room, I head to the bathroom to start her bath and turn on the shower.  She grabs a few glasses and a bottle of wine and heads to her gigantic garden style tub. 

 

“James, why don’t you come take a bath with me tonight.” 

 

She didn’t have to ask me twice.  I turned off my shower and joined her in the tub.  Now I know that I said that we made love in other ways but this was unchartered territory, usually we keep our clothes on below the waist.  I got behind her and washed her back and she cooed under my touch.  She spins around and tries to straddle me and I tell her that we can’t.  She is disappointed but knows that I’m right so she just steps out and walks to the bedroom soaking wet, no towel, no nothing just her beautiful ass swaying as I watch her longingly.  She knows that she is driving me crazy, I slid down in the water and come back up to sit there like damn this is hell. 

 

“James, you know that we don’t have to go to Vegas if you don’t want to.” She says as I climb into our bed.

 

“Why’d think I don’t want to.  I’m down, I think it would be cool to get out of town for a few days.  Besides I haven’t been to the strip in years.  It would be good, we can have a nice dinner, the steaks at Circus Circus used to be out of this world, come on babe lets go, it will be fun.”

 

I could tell that she was hedging, something was on her mind. 

 

“Ohhhh, babe no matter what happens on Thursday, if you are ready to you know when we get out there it will be cool.”  In my mind I’m telling myself, please let it be ok.

 

She looks relieved. 

 

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” She whispers. 

 

“Anything, speak your mind.”

 

“Ok, well…I was thinking since right now may not be the best timing…I was going to get birth control, I think I want a diaphragm because its less hormones.” 

I smile and pull her into my arms. 

 

“I’m down for whatever you want to do.  A baby would complicate things but since I met you I can’t think of anyone who I would want to have complications with”

 

Teresa leaned back to look at me.  She has her mouth open. 

 

I lean down and bite her bottom lip and suck on it. 

 

She loses it.  She jumps on top of me and starts grinding and rubbing on my very hard erection.  I roll her onto her back and I start sucking on her neck, I move down to her chest and start trailing kisses down her stomach.  She is squirming because she is so ticklish.  I pull down her panties and I take her each of her legs one at a time, kissing her toes, her ankles, up her legs until I place both of her legs on my shoulders and find her secret spot with my tongue.  I gently nibble on her pleasure spot and suck her until she creams all over my mouth.  I continue to her opening and I tongue the rim of her entryway.  She is crying out and writhing but grabbing my hair and pushing me closer, I can tell that she is about to have another orgasm so I continue this time speeding up the pace so that she can find her release. 

 

“James, James, James, James”

 

Over and over she says my name, she grabs me and strokes me until I come too and we both lean back satisfied and spent. 

 

I get up and go to the bathroom and get a hot wash cloth for her and I go back to wash my face and hands. 

 

She is sitting in bed blushing and smiling shyly and I can say that she looks so happy that I just want this moment to last forever.  I climb back into bed and she leans on me, head on my chest and we try to get some rest, each one of us, stealing kisses every so often, knowing that the other is still awake, finally somewhere around 2 or 3 AM we roll over on our sides I’m by the door and she is facing the moon.  She clicks the switch to activate the electric blinds and we both fall into a deep sleep. 

 

When I wake up it’s 6AM, Teresa’s side of the bed is made up and I spontaneously reach out, I turn on the news and hop out the bed, brush my teeth and get in the shower.  I hear my bedroom door, I pause and wait.  I’m always ready, I have a gun in my shower.  As a sicario you can never be too careful.  It’s only Teresa.  She’s fully dressed and I’m slacking.  I turn the water off and dry off wrapping my towel around my waist. 

 

She walks over and kisses me on the lips.

 

“Good morning mi amour” she murmurs. 

 

I grab a black T-shirt and a pair of black jeans.  Time is moving so slow it’s only Tuesday, I want it to be Friday already.  We head to the winery and Taza and his crew are there, this is a usual meeting so we chop it up for a little and they pack up and leave.  I’m overseeing the shipments and Pote and Kelly Anne are going back and forth over a new change that he’s suggested that they make to the menu.  Life is good. 

 

My phone starts buzzing. 

 

It’s Sinaloa.

 

There’s only one person who would be calling me from Sinaloa.  I pick up the phone and its Camilla. 

 

I don’t speak I just listen to her deep voice spitting out conflict.

 

“James my friend, I wanted to call you and share my wonderful news with you.  I have rid the world of that maggot Boaz Jimenez and now I can focus on destroying my real enemy Teresa Mendoza.  I am calling you to let you know that I am coming.  I am going to destroy everything that she holds in her grimy little hands”

 

“I’m with Teresa now”

 

“Well my friend you will die with Teresa then” 

 

She hung up the phone at that admission. 

 

I stare at the phone and walk over to Teresa’s office. 

 

She looks up from her computer with a smile. 

 

I sit down in the chair across from her and tell her about the phone call.

 

“Well its war she wants its war she’ll get, I told you before I’m not running anymore.”

 

“When they come we will be ready.”

 

I get up to leave and she continues filling orders and I go back to overseeing the men. 

 

The night before our trip, I ask Pote to let me have the kitchen for the night and I fire up the grill by the pool and cook some ribeyes, grilled corn and grilled pineapple.  I got candles and I plan on proposing to her tonight.  I know how she feels about me but I don’t want to get embarrassed I want to get the engagement part out the way before we get on the road. 

 

She walks downstairs expecting Pote and Tony, but instead it’s just me, I have some music playing softly, I got roses in the pool and all over the patio area. 

 

“Welcome to your special evening Teresa, please have a seat.”  I pull out her chair and she pecks me on the mouth as she takes her seat. 

 

I know she likes her steak medium well, so I fix her plate and pour her a glass of champagne.  She looks like she’s going to break her face she is smiling so hard. 

 

After we finish eating I clear the dishes and she takes a seat on one of the lounge chairs by the pool.  As I walk over to her she looks up and never breaking eye contact I begin my serenade.

 

“When I first met you I knew that you were strong and I knew that you were a survivor.  But what I didn’t know is that you would become my world.  I never thought that I could feel for another human being the way that my heart feels for you.  You have replaced all the darkness that surrounded my heart for years with your light and love and for that I am eternally grateful.  For the rest of my days on this earth I want to spend them loving you, living for you, and devoting myself to you.”

 

I get down on one knee with the ring in my right hand and I take her left hand.

 

“Teresa Mendoza, my heart, my light, forever my love, the one and only true love of my life, will you do me the honor and complete me, be my wife so that our souls can become one like it’s meant to be”

 

She has tears in her eyes and she looks down at me and nods her head yes. 

 

“James Valdez I would be honored to be your wife, I love you so much, oh my God”

 

I put the ring on her finger, she jumps into my arms and my heart swells with joy.  I stand up holding her tight and giving her a little spin before I put her down. 

 

She stares at her ring looking up at me completely and utterly happy. 


	10. Final Showdown

Our bags are packed and we take the Tahoe.  It’s bullet proof and I’m not taking any chances.  Besides her gift is too flashy and might draw too much attention.  I have a plan to take her to Mustique for the honeymoon, but she doesn’t know that I’m having her car shipped out there for her pleasure.

 

The drive from Phoenix to Vegas is beautiful, Teresa and I coo in awe of the beautiful mesas, riding over the Hoover Dam and the little picturesque town that you see in the rearview as soon as you enter Paradise Nevada, otherwise known as Las Vegas.

 

I look over at her every now and then and she is staring at her ring twisting it on her finger.  As the sun hits the ring her entire finger is glowing its like a high beam in the passenger seat.  The ring is enormous because her hands are so little. 

 

“Is it too much?”

 

She looks at me with a devilish grin and says “Nah, I think its just right”

 

“You know that we’re getting married tomorrow right?”

 

She looks surprised but a happy surprise.  Then she pouts, “but I wish that we could share this with our family.”  I smile at her inclusion of me as her family, Kelly Anne, Pote and Tony were her family.  But now I’m a part of that and it felt so good to hear her say that.  I grab her hand and tell her “its ok I have a plan.”

 

We ride listening to music and singing along off key to our favorite songs that come on the iTunes channel we’re listening to, in the desert its hard to get a signal, cell phone or otherwise so we are goofing off when the signal stops.  When we get to the strip, I have a few men already there to make sure that we don’t have any surprises.  They take our bags and we go to the Presidential suite. 

 

The ride was long so we decide to take a shower and a nap.  Since she got the all clear at her doctor’s appointment I am hesitant to assume that she wants to make love.  Teresa strips down to her birthday suit and grabs me by the hand and leads me to the bathroom.  We turn on the shower and just relish in washing and touching each other.  Both aroused but savoring every second. 

 

We dry off never taking our eyes off each other.

 

“Mr. Valdez, we are going to switch things up.”

 

“And my future Mrs. Valdez how would you say that we should switch things up.”

 

“Since we are getting married tomorrow that means that this is our wedding eve, so we can’t see each other before the wedding its bad luck.” 

 

I’m stunned, I didn’t know that’s how she felt.  Teresa sees that look on my face and she starts laughing hysterically I mean howling, she is laughing so hard she has tears coming out of her eyes. 

 

She saunters over in her towel, hair up in a high ponytail with tendrils dusting her shoulders and she grabs my towel and pulls me to her. 

 

“James, if you would have saw your face, I’m joking but one thing I need is a dress for the wedding.  So we are going to take a nap and then we are going to find me a dress, it's a good thing that you had Pote and Kelly Anne bringing Tony tomorrow because it would have broken my heart if they weren’t here.  So I told them to come tonight, The Venetian right, they should be arriving soon.”  She walks back into the bathroom, throwing a smirk over her shoulder.

 

I can’t believe they snitched on me and disclosed my carefully laid plans.  I laugh, I can’t get anything past this woman. 

 

I grab a pair of boxers and climb into the bed, she’s right I need a nap, but I put an alarm on my phone to make sure that we get up and catch the store.  Caesars has everything so we can start there and if she doesn’t find anything we can probably go to Hard Rock.  We’ll see, for now I am going to get some rest.

 

Camilla’s men were boarding the private plane that she made ready for the hit.  They would arrive in Phoenix in a few hours.  She was making a speech at the orphanage and would have the entire army on high alert.  As the governor her popularity had grown since opening the orphanage. 

 

Isabella was at home still not speaking to Camilla after the death of her boyfriend Kique Jimenez. 

 

We indeed take a nap.  When we rise we freshen up and throw on some casual clothes to blend in and take a few of the men.  Teresa and I get an Uber over to Caesars.  The men follow in the Tahoe.  I give Teresa as much space as she needs to find something that she likes.  The plan is for her to see if she likes it and then my job is to step out so that I don’t see her in the gown when she tries it on.  The men get to see her before I do as I am not taking any chances of her getting hurt, but I’m ok with that.

 

They box the dress and agree to deliver it to the suite.  I have my tux already as I own several.  For my big day I decided on the all black Tom Ford.  We’re hungry so I call Pote and tell them where we are having dinner so that they can join us.  We go to Margaritaville.  It’s fun and Tony will enjoy it, guys walking around on stilts, a huge fish bowl big enough for a person to jump in, its crazy and the drinks are bananas. 

 

We finish our meal and Teresa and Kelly Anne are whispering so I see my plan falling apart at the seams right before my eyes. 

 

“James, since this is my last night as a single lady, why don’t you and Pote hang out and Kelly Anne, Tony and I can go back to the Bellagio.  Just girl stuff.  Tony has his X Box and the suite has a second bedroom with a living room area.”

 

I don’t want her out of my sights but I know that this will make her happy besides Sunday morning we will be in Mustique.  Our own private villa again with men already scouting the area to ensure her safety.  I call the men over at the hotel and let them know the plan and we walk back to the Bellagio. 

 

As I kiss Teresa on the mouth she puts her arms around my neck and whispers “I will see you tomorrow mi corazon, I’ll be the one in white”

 

Pote and I go to the suite at the Venetian and knock back an entire bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII.  The men are on high alert and we have plenty of snacks and finger foods.  Who knew that Pote dug westerns, so the night before I get married, I spent it with my future wife’s most loyal soldier laughing, drinking and watching cowboy flicks.

 

Over at the Bellagio, Teresa and Kelly Anne were trying on clothes, her Monique Lhuillier Spring 2019 Amie dress was so beautiful.  She got a modern veil since the dress was classic and she finished it off with the Shannon Satin Pearl Pumps to complete her outfit. Kelly Anne was progressing nice in NA so they had a sober girl’s night.  They sat around talking and laughing watching re-runs of Sex and the City.  She made popcorn and everything. 

 

Tony was in the other room playing X Box as usual.

 

Back in Phoenix, the men that Camilla dispatched were met at the airport.  Thanks to Taza and his men they all ended up in the field of ambition.  No gunfight just a well played strategy set up by Taza and myself.  I knew that General Cortez would be guarding Camilla so I used that to my advantage. 

 

Since I rescued Isabella from danger last year every now and then she hits me up, I expressed my condolences when I heard about Kique and she asked me point blank if her mother had him killed.  This was no secret, I told Teresa about each phone call the last phone call Teresa was sitting right there.  The assassin code used to be no women, no children, but depending on the boss it could go down however.  Teresa was not that type of boss. 

 

“Isabella, in this world we do what we have to do, I can not say what happened because I don’t know, I was not there, but I do believe that your mother is trying to keep you safe and will protect you from harm.”  Teresa signals for me to end the call. 

 

“Isabella we are now on opposite sides of the war and I need to tell you that I am with Teresa”

 

“James, I didn’t know…I understand…I thought that she was with Guero.”  Damn she was just like her mother, she always knew what buttons to push and which ones would hurt the most.  I hung up nothing left to be said and Teresa and I smiled at each other knowing that our little talk had planted a seed that Camilla would not be able to wiggle out of. 

 

The next morning there was a chill in the air, but by the time we got to the chapel it was blazing hot.  Everyone is getting ready and I’m anxious to see Teresa, it’s been a long time since we haven’t spent the night with each other, and not being in the same house, I slept very little.  We arrived at the chapel and there are men discretely placed all over, some look like patrons of the casino, some look like badasses and some just look like regular folk.  I even have a sicario pretending to be homeless, you can never be too careful, we all have communication ear plugs. 

 

As I stand at the podium waiting for Teresa, I look down at my tuxedo that is tailored with body armor.  I have my back turned because the anxiety of waiting has me sweating and tweaking a little.  They start the music and I see Kelly Anne walk up to my left.  While Pote stands to my right.  Tony walks with Teresa down the aisle and takes a seat in the audience, no longer being able to resist I turn around and Teresa is a vision.  I am so proud, she looks so beautiful.  I don’t believe in luck but today I feel like I am the luckiest man in the universe.  This tough, stubborn, kind, compassionate woman is about to be mine. 

 

She takes my hand and she is shaking.  I bring her hand to my lips and it calms her.  The way that I am looking at her she starts blushing and places her arm through mine so that we are both facing the minister.  We repeat the vows that he recites and I pull out the wedding band.  Pote gave Kelly Anne my wedding band for her to hand to Teresa.  When Teresa slides my ring on my finger it takes everything in me not to kiss her but I wait for the minister to finish the vows and we kiss for the longest time.  She is mine and I am hers.  Pote’s cough breaks our kiss and we laugh before we kiss one more time this time just a peck and a promise that this is forever. 

 

We go back to the Bellagio where we have a beautiful brunch and small wedding cake waiting for us and the plan is for Pote, Kelly Anne and Tony to drop us off at the private airfield where our jet will be taking Teresa and me on our honeymoon.  For safety no one knows where we are going except Pote and me.  Even the pilot doesn’t know where we are going he is just on standby until we board. 

 

Back in Sinaloa Governor Camilla Vargas and General Cortez leave the orphanage and reach out to their men sent to Phoenix, unfortunately no one lived to tell what happened.  Camilla is furious.  General Cortez exits the vehicle and helps Camilla exit the vehicle next.  Isabella has gone insane with grief and she has a plan to die.  Camilla made pozole and carnitas the night before.  She offers General Cortez something to eat and he accepts.  She heats up the food and goes upstairs to change.  Unbeknownst to Camilla Isabella has poisoned all the food in the house.  General Cortez devours the carnitas and has an extra-large bowl of pozole. 

 

Camilla goes to Isabella’s room and she knocks on the door, when she gets no response she opens the door.  Isabella is in bed. Camilla sits on the bed. 

 

“Isabella, cuando vas a hablar conmigo me estas rompiendo el Corazon, por favor, te quiero muchisimo.”  Camilla reaches out to stroke Isabella’s arm and its ice cold.  She jumps up shaking Isabella, “Isabella wake up, Isabella!!!  Cortez!!! Cortez!!!”

She sees the note on the night stand.  She grabs it and races to her room she doesn’t have her phon, she grabs her cell and calls 911.   She runs back to Isabella’s room and she hears the sirens, just as the emergency personnel come through the gate, the house explodes. 

 

Camilla was so consumed with hatred for Teresa she didn’t see the hatred that was living in her own house, she didn’t see that Isabella had lost her mind after Kique, she found someone to get her pounds of C4 and she placed it all around the house she ate the food that her mother cooked that she poisoned because the plate was on her bed.  She made her peace and decided to leave this world. 

 

Camilla never got a chance to read the letter but had she opened it, but the letter read one line

 

**Soon, you’ll understand why.  Soon, you’ll join me.**

Over in Malta I had a team of elite professionals put the hit on Rocco de la Pena.  I wouldn’t be able to rest knowing that my wife had a powerful enemy somewhere.  It cost me a pretty penny but I made it happen with the help of El Santo and his little angels.

As Teresa and I boarded the plane I don’t look down when I get the text telling me that Camilla and Rocco are gone, I get on the plane going to Mustique destiny headed in another direction.  My wife is by my side and I know as I look down on her that every hit, every order and every dark place in my life led me to this moment.  Happiness.  Love.  Light.  Devotion.  As my wife and I sit down and strap in for our flight.  The flight attendant brings out a bucket of champagne.  It’s Teresa who reaches out and grabs my hand bringing it to her mouth she says “may you never steal, lie or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away all of my hurts and sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the days and nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death, because I don’t want to exist in a universe without you, mi amor.”

 

We take off to begin a new chapter of our life as Mr. & Mrs. Valdez my wife teasing me about who I’ve invited to the mile high club.  I look deep in her eyes drowning in her chocolate pools and tell her thickly, “I promise only you Mrs. Valdez, only you” 

 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished it, I plan on doing the same story from Teresa's POV. I have an alternate ending where well I won't tell you because maybe I can end Teresa's POV with that ending...I hope you enjoyed my fanfic, til next time.


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